Mialitiana Clerc (born 16 November 2001[1] in Ambohitrmanjaka, Madagascar) is an alpine skier from Madagascar. Clerc is scheduled to compete for Madagascar at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the alpine skiing events. Clerc will become the first female to compete for Madagascar at the Winter Olympics.[2] Clerc was born in Madagascar, and was adopted by a French family at the age of one. She learned to ski in France.[3][4]

Tucker Murphy (born October 21, 1981) is a Bermudian cross-country skier who has competed since 2006. He finished 88th in the 15 km event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. He studied at Merton College, Oxford.[1]

Murphy's best career finish was 11th in a lesser known event at Spain in 2009.

Shannon-Ogbani Abeda (born 15 May 1996[3]) is a Canadian born alpine skier competing for Eritrea. Abeda is scheduled to compete for Eritrea at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the alpine skiing events. Abeda will become the first athlete to compete for Eritrea at the Winter Olympics.[4] Abeda's parents fled the Eritrean War of Independence in the 1980s and fled to Canada.[5] Abeda also represented the country at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria.[6]

Mathilde-Amivi Petitjean (born February 19, 1994 in Togo[1][2]) is a cross-country skier who competes for Togo. She competed for Togo at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the 10 km classical race.[3] Petitjean finished in 68th place in her only race out of 75 competitors, nearly ten minutes behind the winner Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland. Petitjean hopes that her appearance will help to inspire the youth of Africa to participate in winter sports.[4]

Charles Flaherty (born 19 December 2000[2]) is a alpine skier competing for Puerto Rico.

Career[edit]Flaherty had to convince the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee to allow him to compete for the country. In 2002, the bobsleigh team that was set to compete for Puerto Rico was withdrawn as one athlete (Michael Gonzales) did not meet Puerto Rico Olympic Committee rules about eligibility. After this, the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee withdrew the recognition of the Winter Sports Federation for the island, effectively ending any hopes for athletes competing at the Winter Olympics.[3] Alpine skier Kristina Krone qualified to represent the nation at both the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Sochi respectively. However, both times the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee refused to even acknowledge her qualification and the country did not compete.[4] In December 2017, the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee allowed a six-month temporary membership to the Winter Sports Federation, thus allowing the country to compete at the 2018 Games.[5] Although Flaherty was born in the United States, he has resided in Puerto Rico for several years, which gave him eligibility to compete for the country.[1]

2018 Winter Olympics[edit]Flaherty is scheduled to compete for Puerto Rico at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the alpine skiing events. Flaherty will become the first athlete from the country to compete for Puerto Rico since 2002.[6]

Pita Taufatofua, a taekwondoka from a Polynesian island nation who marched into Rio’s opening ceremony glistening in coconut oil and who had never been on skis before last year, qualified for the Pyeongchang Olympics as a cross-country skier on Saturday morning with a dramatic performance in a remote Icelandic town on the last day he could have made himself eligible for the upcoming Winter Games.

..

Taufatofua, whose road from Rio to Pyeongchang has been chronicled extensively by The Wall Street Journal, traveled to nearly a dozen countries, scrambled across Europe over the last week and survived driving through a blizzard in the Arctic Circle for one last race on the day before the Olympic cutoff.

Taufatofua started one minute behind a skier from Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday’s icy track. If he could track him down, Taufatofua figured, he’d likely be the first Tongan skier in Winter Games history.

Taufatofua did more than catch him. He delivered the race of his life.

“I gave it absolutely everything,” he said in an interview from Iceland. “I died at the end.”

His finish in Isafjordur finally gave Taufatofua the average of five scores required to meet the International Ski Federation (FIS) standard for countries with one representative in his Olympic event. He is certain to be named to the Tonga cross-country ski team, an FIS spokesman said, considering he is the Tonga cross-country ski team.